Toowoomba crime: Darling Downs mums busted breaking the law to face Toowoomba courts
A number of Darling Downs mums have found themselves on the wrong side of the law this year, making appearances in court for wild behaviour. See the list here.
Police & Courts
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Mothers of all ages and backgrounds from across the Darling Downs appear in the Toowoomba courthouse every week, each with their own set of circumstances, stories and crimes.
From trafficking dangerous drugs and assault to dangerous driving and fraud, here is a list of some local mums that have gone through court for their wild behaviour.
Trina Renae Bailey
A woman who drunkenly groped her daughter’s teacher, before crashing her car into a fence, had formed the belief that text messages between the pair were more than a feeling, a court has been told.
Trina Renae Bailey faced Toowoomba Magistrates Court on July 26 where she pleaded guilty to common assault and driving a motor vehicle over the middle alcohol limit.
The court was told that in the weeks leading up to June 2, 2022, the 26-year-old had attended the Toowoomba school to pick up her six-year-old daughter smelling of alcohol, and had inappropriately touched her daughter’s teacher despite her numerous requests for Bailey to stop.
Things came to a head on June 2 when Bailey went to the victim’s classroom and hugged her, before running her hand down the victim’s backside and making a sexual remark to a nearby male teacher.
“I hope you’re having sex with that, if I had a dick I would be,” the court was told Bailey said.
At 5.50pm that same day, police were called to a unit complex after Bailey crashed into a fence.
After speaking to a witness and finding Bailey near her vehicle, she returned a reading of 0.137.
Bailey was convicted and sentenced to 18 months probation, and a nine month disqualification.
Jaimi Margaret Desiree
A mother’s methylamphetamine trafficking was brought to light after her phone was seized by police during a random traffic stop, a court has been told.
Police stopped Jaimi Margaret Desiree Herbert about 10.40pm on October 29, 2020, near the entrance of a closed truck wash at Chinchilla, Toowoomba Supreme Court was told on July 25.
A search of the then 24-year-old’s vehicle uncovered a number of drug items, including digital scales, a glass pipe, 1.3g of cannabis and a mobile phone.
After providing her access PIN, police were able to download and analyse the contents of the phone, which revealed that the now 26-year-old had trafficked in methylamphetamine, and upon request cannabis, from May 13, 2019 to October 2020 to some 21 different customers.
Describing addiction as “always nipping at your heels”, Justice Elizabeth Wilson acknowledged that Herbert’s drug use, and subsequent trafficking, came from a “unique set of circumstances” including the loss of Herbert’s partner, job and traumatic loss of her pregnancy at 29 weeks.
The mother of a 12-month-old and a 17-day-old baby was convicted and sentenced to three years jail, with immediate parole.
Jessica Lee Church
In an attempt to escape from her ex-partner, a woman hit the man with her car, and as he clung onto the bonnet drove away, flinging him to the gutter where he was left unconscious.
The incident dated back to November 2020, with police prosecutor Sergeant Jessica Lynch telling Toowoomba Magistrates Court on July 5 that Jessica Lee Church drove directly at the victim, who fell onto the bonnet of the vehicle.
With the man still on the bonnet, the court was told Church accelerated heavily and swerved, throwing the victim from the vehicle and into the gutter.
Church pleaded guilty to dangerous operation of a vehicle and failing to immediately stop at an incident.
A mother of three, Church’s solicitor Alysha Jacobsen said her client had struggled with homelessness in the past but was being supported by her grandmother.
Magistrate Clare Kelly sentenced Church to 15 months jail, and was immediately released on parole.
Kelly-Ann May Sinclair
An extended stint in jail had hopefully turned a long-term drug user’s life around, the 37-year-old mother of three’s barrister has submitted to the Toowoomba Supreme Court.
“This may be the circuit breaker she needs,” barrister Steve Kissick said of his client Kelly-Ann May Sinclair.
Sinclair appeared in custody on May 26 to plead guilty to trafficking ice and occasionally the dangerous drug GHB between September 4, 2020, and January 10, 2021.
A search of her mobile phone had led police to ascertain she had a drug customer base of 25 to whom she sold primarily meth on at least 51 occasions during the four-month period with 41 actual supplies, he said.
Justice Martin Burns said ordinarily Sinclair was looking at a sentence of four and a half years.
However, noting she had spent 435 days in pre-sentence custody that wouldn’t be declared under the sentence and “to reflect the impressive effort while in custody”, Justice Burns sentenced Sinclair to three years in jail but ordered she be released on parole on July 16, 2022.
Corianda Marigold Gardiner
A 37-year-old mother of two will be separated from her family for at least nine months after being jailed for trafficking ice.
Corianda Marigold Gardiner had been the target of a police operation investigating drug trafficking in the Stanthorpe area in late 2020 to early 2021, Toowoomba Supreme Court was told on May 25.
A police search of Gardiner’s home on December 23, 2021, had found a small amount of meth but more seriously police found a series of messages on her mobile phone, which was seized, that pointed to her drug trafficking.
Her operation was to source up to 3.5g of meth at a time before breaking that down into small amounts and selling at street level in amounts from 0.1g to 0.5g.
Over the period, some 36 transfers of money amounting to $11,000 had been paid into Gardiner’s bank account but the Crown accepted that was a gross amount and that, as a drug user herself, the 37-year-old would have used that money to source further drugs.
Gardiner, who sobbed through much of the sentence hearing, pleaded guilty to trafficking meth, supplying cannabis and possessing meth and cannabis and drug utensils and was sentenced to three years in jail to be released on parole on February 25, 2023, after having served nine months.
Kim Patricia Dixon
A Toowoomba horse trainer has been hit with hefty fines, and placed on probation, after pleading guilty to a string of drug-related offending.
Kim Patricia Dixon, 29, fronted Toowoomba Magistrates Court on April 19 where she was convicted of supplying and possessing dangerous drugs, and two separate drug driving incidents.
The court was told that at about 5.05pm on January 15 police executed a search warrant at a Newtown address that uncovered 1.54g of a crystal substance, scales and money. Police prosecutor Alister Windsor said a search of Dixon’s phone found messages that indicated she had been involved in the supply of dangerous drugs.
The court was also told Dixon was caught drug driving after a single-vehicle crash on December 4, 2021, and again on 13 February 2022. On both occasions Dixon returned positive readings to methylamphetamine.
Dixon’s solicitor Amber Acreman told the court her client was a mother of four, and that her issue with drugs stemmed from the collapse of a long-term relationship which had been marred by domestic violence.
Dixon was fined a total of $2000, disqualified from driving for 4 months and placed on 12 months probation.
Kara Jade Weribone
A Toowoomba woman broke into the house of another woman and repeatedly beat her, with the pair engaged in a love triangle that turned violent.
Kara Jade Weribone appeared in Toowoomba Magistrates Court on April 1 where she pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm while in company and enter dwelling with intent by break in company, as well as a raft of property offences.
The court was told the 24-year-old and another woman went to the property of a third woman about 7am on January 23, 2022.
The victim was woken when the two women entered the home, and the court was told Weribone said “what are you talking s--- for” before assaulting the woman, with the co-accused egging her on saying “just pump her Kara”.
Weribone’s solicitor Ryan McCullough told the court his client was a mother of two, and was pregnant with her third child.
Magistrate Howard Osborne convicted Weribone and sentenced her to 15 months jail, with a non-parole period of five months. He ordered the remaining jail term be suspended for 12 months.
Samantha Toni Rae Kaarsberg, Amy Jean Breeze
Two Toowoomba mothers have received jail terms for their respective roles in a violent home invasion in which another young mother was assaulted and threatened.
Samantha Toni Rae Kaarsberg, 27, Amy Jean Breeze, 26, and a juvenile co-offender had gone to the home of the 26-year-old victim about 12.40pm, January 29, 2021, Toowoomba District Court was told on March 23.
The victim, who had her two-year-old daughter in another room, didn’t know the intruders but knew of them through associates.
The victim was herded into a bedroom where demands for a gun and keys were made but after telling them she had no gun, the woman showed them the car keys, however further demands were made for a gun, drugs and car keys.
As Breeze held the door shut, Kaarsberg assaulted the woman, punching her a number of times and kicking once.
The group took the keys to the car which was driven away by Kaarsberg.
Kaarsberg and Breeze pleaded guilty to demanding property by menace, assault occasioning bodily harm in company and unlawful use of a motor vehicle.
Judge Ian Dearden sentenced Kaarsberg to 15 months in jail with 41 days custody declared served and suspended after 41 days for 18 months.
Breeze was sentenced to six months in jail, fully suspended for 18 months, with 18 months probation to include random drug testing.
Nicole Marie Beekmans
After stealing a scooter, a Toowoomba woman has copped a hefty fine for leading police on a pursuit after she “panicked” and tried to flee.
On February 1, Toowoomba Magistrates Court was told about 11.20pm that on November 25 last year police were patrolling in Kearneys Spring along Ruthven Street when they saw a black Mazda take a hasty turn into the Harvey Norman shopping centre.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Alister Windsor said police followed the vehicle and saw it speed up and exit the centre before driving into The Ridge Shoppingworld carpark.
As the vehicle left the carpark police activated their lights and sirens, and over loudspeaker directed the vehicle to stop.
“The vehicle initially followed the commands given, and both police officers exited their marked vehicle but as they made their way towards the subject vehicle and reached level with the boot the vehicle drove away on Hume Street, and police lost sight of it,” Sergeant Windsor said.
About 11.30pm police patrols found the vehicle stopped on Alderley Street, with the ignition still running and both driver and passenger side doors open.
While a man approached police with his hands up, the driver of the vehicle, Nicole Marie Beekmans, was found hiding in a backyard nearby.
The 34-year-old mother of five pleaded guilty to evasion, trespass, driving without a licence, entering a dwelling and committing an indictable offence and stealing on Monday, January 31.
Magistrate Graham Lee opted to hand Beekmans a $6892.50 fine, referred to SPER, place her on 12 months probation and disqualify her from driving for two years. Convictions were recorded.
Taylor Lorraine Morgan
A mother of two has told Toowoomba Magistrates Court of having a very bad year in 2021 and 2022 hasn’t started out much better after she was fined and ordered off the road for two years.
Taylor Lorraine Morgan was pulled over by a police patrol on Tor Street about 12.30am, December 8, the court was told on January 27.
She blew a breath/alcohol reading of 0.59 and checks of the vehicle she was driving was found to be unregistered and uninsured.
Worse still was that the 26-year-old was driving while disqualified, having been disqualified from driving for four months by the same court in October last year.
The self represented Morgan pleaded guilty to drink driving while disqualified and driving an unregistered and uninsured motor vehicle. She was fined a total $1631 and disqualified from holding or obtaining a driver’s licence for a total two years and one month.
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